LOOW CAC to further discuss latest IWCS documents

by jmaloni

Sat, Feb 11th 2012 07:00 am

by Terry Duffy

Look for more discussion of interest on the future of the
Interim Waste Containment Structure at the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works
Community Action Council meeting, Wednesday, Feb. 15, on the Lewiston-Porter
campus.

That session, taking place from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in the
Alumni Room of the Lew-Port Community Resource Center, will continue on
discussions heard last month regarding radon concentrations at the IWCS.

Chief topic will be the recently issued U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers technical memoranda and reports covering radon assessments and
meteorological data at the IWCS. Also there will be discussion on the effects
of hypothetical exposures to radon contaminants at the site.

For decades, it seems, IWCS, the 1980s-era, temporary
10-acre disposal cell housing high-level radioactive waste, located within the
U.S. government-owned Niagara Falls Storage Site on Pletcher Road, has piqued
the community's interest. The cordoned-off, isolated property, however, remains
secretive to most with regards to its wartime links, the complexities of its
stored radioactive contents, the extent and its dangers.

Last fall, the Corps unveiled a detailed, months-long
feasibility study process it is embarking on en route to anticipated remediation
of the IWCS. At the leadoff Sept. 28 session, Corps reps introduced the
community to a successful $4 billion-plus remediation project it completed in
Fernald, Ohio. The Corps compared that site to the IWCS, discussed its cleanup
performed there, the possibilities for Lewiston and followed with various
alternative options for cleanup in Lewiston.

From that have come in-depth discussions locally on the
IWCS. They have come both by CAC, and also by the LOOW Restoration Advisory
Board, another area group, which, like CAC, is very much concerned with the
IWCS and its future. Both continue to analyze the site's problems, promote the
need for greater transparency with respect to its contents and dangers to
residents, and urge the Corps to pursue a desired path of full
remediation/clean-up of the cell.

Much of that transparency involves educating the community when it
comes to understanding the realities of the IWCS and its very complicated
cleanup. And that's where CAC has its focus, both for this coming Wednesday's
session, and for a session on March 15. At both, CAC aims to further engage the
community to better understand the actual situation at IWCS, as it plans for a
more productive session with the Corps March 28 at the Lewiston Senior Center.
"We need to understand the protections of what the Corps has to do (with the
IWCS)," said Corps contracted technical facilitator Doug Sarno at last month's
CAC session on Corps future plans at the site and its impact on the community.
"That's what these documents do."

At the CAC discussion Wednesday, issues such as cap removal, radon
concentrations within the IWCS cell, radon releases and exposure, the impact to
off-site receptors such as neighboring residences and the community at large,
as well as the needed safeguards involved will all be discussed, should a
scenario of fully opening up the IWCS ever become reality. "You have to
consider all the costs and risks involved," said Sarno, of the potential $4
billion IWCS cleanup in Lewiston.

Sarno said that Fernald residents ultimately had to consider all
the factors, including cost in determining its best approach. "You have to look
at the big picture."

Fernald residents, however, did end up with the
presence of an onsite disposal landfill, 90 acres in size that contains 3
million cubic yards of leftover radioactive waste from the cleanup that was
placed there for permanent burial.

Lewiston area residents have staunchly opposed any contents of the
IWCS remaining. In fact, many have called for complete remediation and cleanup
of the site, returning the property to its original form as farmland and
residential areas.

"The difficulty here is what you're going to have to go through to
make it safe," commented Lewiston-Porter Superintendent of Schools Chris Roser
at last month's CAC session.

These issues, plus the importance of better community
understanding of the problems, the solutions, the project cleanup
practicalities, and engaging in better constructive input with the Corps will
all be discussed on Wednesday, as CAC prepares for the March 28 Corps session
at the Lewiston Senior Center to discuss the documents.

The Wednesday session is open to the public and residents are
encouraged to stop by.